Police: Pictures on website led to Fort Carson soldier's arrest

Pictures on a social media site led police to a Fort Carson soldier who is jailed on investigation of sexual assault.

Police in court papers say the alleged victim in the case spotted the images after a July 1 attack and burglary and alerted detectives who tracked them to Army Spc. Felicion A. Charles, 22.

The victim told police she was relaxing in her living room, around 1 a.m. July 1, when two men kicked in her front door. They wore wearing bandanas and skull caps to mask their faces, one pointing a gun at her. The Gazette does not typically identify sexual assault victims.

Police say one man rummaged through the apartment and the other, threatening her life, sexually assaulted the woman. The attacker ordered her to take off her shorts and she refused twice, she said. The man then held the gun to her temple and asked, "Doesn't this feel real?" She told police she complied because she feared for her life.

After assaulting her then forcing her into the shower, the two men left her apartment. The woman called 9-1-1.

The woman told police the pair took an iPhone, an iPad, an X-Box, a Sony laptop, jewelry, cigarettes, a camera and a Bushmaster rifle.

Three days after the assault, the victim noticed new images on her husband's Instagram account, which was linked to his iPad, court papers said. The woman's husband wasn't home during the attack.

The photos included a young man wearing a bandana to cover his face.

Using technology, police tracked down the Instagram posts and identified Tyler Hardrick, Charles' younger brother, as the person responsible for them, court papers say. That led them to Charles, police said.

Police searched Charles' residence and found the assault rifle, camera and Sony laptop in Charles' bedroom, according to police.

Police say DNA found on a pair of sunglasses left in the apartment also tied Charles to the incident.